The weekly messenger. [volume] (St. Martinsville [i.e. St. Martinville] La.) 1886-1948, 1887-11-19
BEAUTIFUL SCENERY SEEN
CROSSING THE CONTINENT.
Valley Of Kicking Horse-Nount
Stephen Shooting Antelope
The FIRST Glimpse of the Rock"
les

hour along thc shores Of the Gwiudiing Column
Tia, its waters white with clay, the tram moves
easily over pleasant incrvalc between the
Sclkisls and the ranges of the Rockies. We
soon catch sight Of the vast system of the
Rockies in chain Of snow-clad peaks-large
in Themselves. bnt small when compared with
the gigantic forms of the SelllirSs which we
have Just Icft--set against the southeastern
sky like the teeth of hinge saw. Looking
backward from this point, we see, spread ont
In full beauty and impressiyencss, the superb
sierra through whose gorges and defiies we
have but lately passed with so much difficulty
its base covered with black masses of pines,
Its sides SCARED and rent by avalanches. its
SUBMITS cleaning with innumerable glaciers,
now flushed i'll rosy tlnts under the rays OF the
descending sun, We are in the midst of the
grandeur and desolation OF Natures closest
sanctuary; there is an awfulness in this environ
ment of mountains, this untanted atmosphere
Of the heights. that makes words forgotten and
compels us To look upon the wonderful scene
in silence. There is not in all the Alps. or in
the barren gOrCes of the Pyrennees, white with
winter. a scene more beautiful and imposing
perhaps none equally so-than this Of the
SeiArks from the first western slopes of tns
Rocky Mountains. A turn in the road, which
brings us ut once into a new series of canons
and ravines, shuts out the sight of the Sell
kinks, and we plunge into the heart OF the
greatest chain Of the continent, the Rocky
superb as they are, are but secondary. Down
the canon into whose twilight (here perpetual
from deep rayine and darkened growth OF
pine and CEDAR we have been so suddenly
whirled, rolls a swift and narrow stream,
across which We repeatedly cross and re-cross
in the next few miles, the track clinging above
II to shelf cut ont of the cliff, thlckly set
with tunnels, trestles and sharp curves in be-
wildering succession. For ages the stream
has cut its way down through the layers of
rock until il has attained such a depth that
the perpendicular cliffs above it almost hide
it from the sunlight. Above the fine can be
seen the old road. passable only by pack
horses and mules (and to them dangerously,
over which all materials and supplies had to
he brought before the railway could be built.
The stream is the famous Kicking Horse
River, for its extent the most difficult obstacle
the railroad encountered i'll all its distance
from sea to sea. The stream RACES nightly
as it forces its way through the scant ravine,
into which, to vex it further, the mountains
have cast greaG boulders, which break it into
masses of foam, and cause II at times 70
throw up huge sheets of spray into the air.
The grade here. however. is not immOderate-
when we have passed Field, where supper is
to he taken. we shall find different state OF
affairs.
From the station of Field to that of Hector,
only eight miles above, the run takes an hour
and quarter. for, short as the distance is, the
difference in altitude of the two places is 1l40
feet, making an average grade of about 143
feet 20 the mile. To overcome so abrupt
slope two engines are attached to the train at
Field, one in front to pull the other, a mon
ster of about 100 tons and equipped with eight
driving wheels, behind, to push the weight, as
it were. with its huge shoulders. For the first
few rods above Field the road runs over fiat
country, when the train abruptly plunges into
ravine even more rocky, stern and awe-inspir-
Laf .Ix.
here began to rise with great abruptness, and
. hint was given Of the difficulty and danger
of the place by seeing, here and there, man
standiug 10y a switch leading to a stretch Of
track which had been built on level ground on
the inward side of the line. The duty of these
switchmen, we discovered. was to watch az
cending or descending trains, and If one
should break loose from the control of the To-
comotives. TO turn the switch at once and
send the train upon the safcty-level. This
furnished us another instance of the care
which is everywhere taken for the security of
the line; i'll fact, eternal vigilance is a
necessity en- a road which, like this, meets
at almost every mile some new danger
In the midst of this system of safety
switches we come again upon the Kicking
Horse River, and into a region Of surprising
grandeur. Five hundred feet below, raging
and Tuning through immense banks of solid
rock, the swollen stream plunCes down the
,scellS III q succession OF DeAutlln waterfalls,
and sheer above the track. rising terrace upon
terrace to a height OF 5000 feet, stand the fam
tlstc shapes of the loftiast of the Canadian
Rocky Mountains. Upon their tops and sides
are glaciers of ice aud snow 200 feet in thick
ness, and rising above their desolate wastes
are turrcts, pinuaclcs and towers, like the out
look posts of the Titans. We sweep directly
under the measurelcSs mass of Cathedral
,IOuntain. standing in lone and melancholy
.,randcur above all its fellows its irregular
form suggesting at once the massive Dom of
Cologne, the fairy pinnacled Duomo of Milan,
and the golden crowned Church of st. Isaac's
at ST. Petersburg -aptly named if ever noun
tain was Near by stood an irregular mass
very like in shape to Mont st. Michael, but
strangely topped by perfect pyramid: and
close to this appeared the counterpart of st.
pns;rr h,,lhons'snired church at Moscow with